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Motorised bicycle makes debut

ST Elizabeth-based David Cameron Jr made his dexterity debut at the Drift Master competition in Manchester recently.

Cameron, a truck driver by profession, turned quite a number of heads with his home-made motorised bicycle.

He said the idea came to him in 2010 after his motor car was totalled. The 24-year-old was left with no means of transport, except for his trusty bicycle.

After weeks of pedalling, Cameron decided he could improve it. He took the frame of his bicycle and added an engine.

"I got together with a mechanic and I started with a power saw engine first. But I didn't really like how it was performing. I realised that the pocket bike engine had the specs I really wanted. We ended up combining two pocket bike engines, because neither of them were operable on their own," Cameron told Auto.

Among the modifications made to the 'high-powered' bicycle are two sprockets on the shaft of the engine, added to create a ratio that would allow for the cycle to manage Cameron's weight.

Having kept the bicycle under wraps for two years -- since returning to his regular mode of transport -- Cameron decided only a week before the dexterity event in Manchester that he was going to take it for a spin for the first time. Testing it mere hours before the event, Cameron made his debut before hundreds of dexterity fans and created quite a stir.

"I was really gearing up to come to this event. We changed the clutch and the carburettor and gave it one test run before coming here. I never even bothered to tune it or anything, so it was very rewarding to take it out there. All these years I've had it and I've never done anything like this with it," said Cameron.

Cameron said he is planning to put on an even better show at the next event on August 19 in Junction, St Elizabeth.

He said he will be adding a splash of colour to the bicycle and wiring the engine so that it can start without a battery.